Movie review: Neighbors’ smarter than most college movies

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By Ed SymkusMore Content Now

Wellington Daily News - Wellington, KS

By Ed SymkusMore Content Now

Posted May. 9, 2014 at 1:01 AM

By Ed SymkusMore Content Now

Posted May. 9, 2014 at 1:01 AM

Seth Rogen fans will know and be happy with what they’re getting in “Neighbors.” He’s once again playing the babbling, dope-smoking goofy guy with a good heart who you probably don’t want to cross because he’s also got a temper. Rogen is definitely one of the reasons to either see or stay from this movie.

There’s a whole different thing going on for Zac Efron fans. Never mind there have been many similarities in roles he’s played in the past. Suffice it to say that what he does here is something you haven’t seen him do before, and he does it well enough to make that another reason to see the movie. He could even make some NEW fans. And, for those concerned about such things, he’s buff!

Rogen plays Mac, a nice fellow who lives happily with his wife, Kelly (Rose Byrne), and their new baby in a nice house in a nice suburban neighborhood, and all is well, including their sex life. A sample of that is on funny and weird display in the film’s opening moments, with the baby sitting by, taking it all in. The only mild glitch for Mac and Kelly is that they’ve just realized that they’ve become homebodies, ADULT homebodies. And though they’re content, they’re wondering how it all happened so quickly.

But there are soon other things to worry about, like all of those fraternity brothers moving in to the house right next door, no doubt getting ready to make all sorts of college-style noise, keep the baby awake and make life a living hell.

So with thoughts of fending off any problems, they pay a friendly visit to the frat house, with a housewarming gift of some fine reefer (is there reefer in EVERY Rogen movie?), and a casual request to please try to keep the noise down. Their initial meeting with Delta Psi Beta president Teddy (Efron) goes quite well. It’s their second visit, with a calm and collected complaint about the noise that has begun, that gets the film’s story rolling. An agreement is made that if the noise bothers them again, they’ll come on over and ask to turn it down, but won’t call the cops, and all will be fine. But upon their departure, there’s talk among the frat brothers and their girlfriends of breaking the place in with “the most legendary rager of all time,” followed by their first reference to “the old people” next door.

Of course, the “old people” end up calling the cops. And the war is on, steadily escalating from that point to just about the end of the film, with each side hatching devious plans against the other, lots of frenetic partying, noise, dope-smoking, drinking and casual cursing. Mac and Kelly want the frat to implode, or at least be kept on a leash by the college dean (played with dry wit by Lisa Kudrow), who’s more interested in good publicity versus bad publicity for the school than in the students’ behavior.

Page 2 of 2 - Under the direction of Teddy, who freely admits that he “isn’t very academically inclined,” that behavior is less than civil. It’s also safe to say that, with the exception of brainy frat member Pete (Dave Franco), the guys in “Animal House’s” Delta Tau Chi were smarter.

But this film is smarter than most others in the college movie genre, thanks to fledgling feature scripters Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, and proven comedy director Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Get Him to the Greek”). Bad taste flows through this, but it’s written and delivered in a funny manner. Fast-paced dialogue shoots back and forth between Rogen and Byrne, who are completely believable as a couple. Efron neatly manages to maneuver between the good and bad streaks inside his character. And car airbag sight gags just don’t get any better than the ones pulled off here. The only thing that holds the film back a little is that it never turns quite dark enough. It threatens to a couple of times but ends up staying safe, not going over the black comic edge. That might have made it funnier, or at least a little nervier.

Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now.

NEIGHBORS

Written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien; directed by Nicholas Stoller